The composition of tungsten heavy alloys are known in the art and preferably have a tungsten content of from about 88% to about 98% by weight, balance nickel and iron. In conventional prior processes used to produce the preferred tungsten heavy alloys resulted in materials having spherical tungsten grains of at least 30 micrometers in diameter as a discontinuous phase and surrounded by a continuous matrix phase of nickel, iron and tungsten. When tungsten heavy alloys are used as kinetic energy penetrators they are generally mechanically worked to increase the hardness of the penetrator. With conventional working methods the reduction in area is generally in the 7% to 25% range. Working beyond 25% resulted in the generation of defects at the matrix tungsten interface.
It is believed, therefore, that a tungsten heavy alloy material containing from about 88% to about 98% tungsten and having improved properties, in particular, a higher recrystallization temperature, that is above about 1000.degree. C., a discontinuous phase of tungsten grains with an aspect ratio greater than about 4:1 relatively uniformly dispersed thoughout the continuous tungsten-nickel-iron alloy phase and wherein the nickel to iron weight ratio in the tungsten heavy alloy is from about 6:4 to about 9:1, which alloy has a high impact strength and improved machinability would be an advancement in the art.